Former
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief G. Madhavan Nair
Wednesday described as "improper" the move to blacklist four
scientists, including him, from a government job and said the
space agency had "gone to the dogs". In a Jan 13 order,
the Department of Space barred »

Bangalore: From humble
beginnings of ferrying rocket parts on a bicycle to launching
satellites of other countries and landing a craft on the moon, the
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has occupied a pride of
place among Indians. However, this now seems to be taking a knock.

Boosting the feel good factor was that ISRO had not landed in a
row in over 50 years of its existence, a rare feat indeed when
almost every other aspect of life in the country was mired in
controversies.

The first rocket was launched in 1963, a proud moment for Indians.

The good image seemed to crash Wednesday, on the eve of the
country's 63rd Republic Day, with ISRO's former chairman G.
Madhavan Nair launching a blistering attack on his successor K.
Radhakrishnan and saying the agency "has gone to the dogs".

Nair's blast is bound to send shockwaves in space agencies around
the world as most of them -- from the famed NASA of the US to the
fledgling space establishments in West Asian countries -- were
doing business with ISRO's commercial arm Antrix Corporation Ltd.

It is Antrix's deal with a private firm Devas Multimedia,
finalised during Nair's term as ISRO chairman, that has set off
events culminating in his fusillade against his former
organisation as well as the central government.

Antrix came into being in 1992 to commercially exploit India's
expertise in space science -- satellite launching to mission
support services. It became a mini-ratna company in 2008.

The Antrix-Devas deal for providing S-band airwave was cancelled
by the central government last February after a controversy that
the pact will cause a huge loss to the country.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has estimated the loss
to the exchequer at Rs.2 lakh crore from the deal, under which
Antrix was to provide 70 MHz S-Band spectrum to Devas.

In Nair's view, the CAG had gone wrong in its estimation of the
probable loss of revenue in the Antrix-Devas deal.

"Satellite spectrum cannot be equated with land-based spectrum as
its usage is restricted. The CAG has extrapolated the land-based
spectrum usage to space-based one," Nair maintained.

But, as often happens in such cases, everyone forgot about the
controversy and it was business as usual at ISRO.

But it has re-surfaced after the central government banned Nair
and three others from taking up any government assignment in
future.

It is not clear when the government took the decision and why it
became public now; particularly after Nair was appointed after he
retired from ISRO to head a committee to design a civilian
aircraft for Indian needs that can be built in the country.

Nair, who headed the ISRO when it launched the moon mission
Chandrayaan-1 in October 2008, has set off an ugly spat with the
central government, his successor K. Radhakrishnan and his former
colleagues at the space agency.

The reverberations will be heard in the coming days as the central
government and Radhakrishnan will have to defend themselves and
the ISRO.

The war of words will only scar the pristine image ISRO and Indian
space scientists hitherto enjoyed, though the battle may not mean
loss of business to Antrix.

Former
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief G. Madhavan Nair
Wednesday described as "improper" the move to blacklist four
scientists, including him, from a government job and said the
space agency had "gone to the dogs". In a Jan 13 order,
the Department of Space barred »

Taking a
serious note of schools being run from tents, the Delhi High Court
Wednesday directed the government to immediately replace the
temporary structures with pre-fabricated portable cabins. The
court's order came »

Picture of the Day

Dr Shariq Nisar, Director of Research and Operations of
India’s premier shariah advisory firm TASIS and one of the
senior most professionals of Islamic Finance in India, was
in Malegaon on Sunday to address a seminar on "Prospects of
Islamic Finance in India".

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